Rewind Review: Boom Boom Rocket (XBLA)

Rewind Review: Boom Boom Rocket (XBLA)

Boom Boom Rocket was developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on Xbox Live Arcade on April 11, 2007 and retails for 800MSP.

Boom Boom Rocket is a fast paced beat music game. Press the correct direction or colored coordinated button to set off amazing fireworks set to over an beautiful city backdrop. With several modes, multiplayer, and lots of songs the game is set to draw you in time and time again.

Here’s what we liked:

Modes – With four playable modes and a visualizer mode there is plenty to keep players enthralled. The premise is to hit buttons in time with the music to earn the highest score possible. The game features a practice mode to help players learn the specifics to a song. Freestyle mode has the same principal as the rest except the player can’t fail. If they hit the wrong button the highest firework explodes, allowing little kids to enjoy the game as well. An added bonus, the visualizer makes for a great screensaver/media player combo.

Difficulty – So, you’re a hard core button matching master, huh. Well then this is definitely the game for you, as it will push your skills to the limit. Not to worry though, if you’re not, the easy mode can be mastered with a little practice as well. And as stated the freestyle mode allows anyone to have fun and just enjoy the pretty fireworks.

Multiplayer – Nothing like some good old couch competition. Sure going online is nice, but there’s nothing better then being able to see the look of defeat on a friends face. Boom Boom Rocket gives you two options for doing so: endurance and battle. With the ability to choose what game mode and the difficulty no one will ever have to complain they didn’t have a fighting chance.

Here’s what we didn’t like:

Amount of songs – The game only has 10 songs, which just isn’t enough. There’s nothing to unlock or earn as you move through the game. It’s a major let down as 10 songs from easy to medium to hard can get old fast. The only thing you have to help this is a 5 song rock pack that you can download from Xbox Live for 250MSP. Although when you look at the fact that this now makes total investment 1,050MSP it feels like being robbed.

Lack of online play – Although they do offer local multiplayer the lack of online is unacceptable. Who are you supposed to beat if you have no local gamer friends or have only one controller? This is an issue that should never have to be addressed; it should just be part of any game that offers multiplayer.

Boom Boom Rocket is definitely not a game for everyone with so many ups and downs under its belt. It has a nice challenging aspect and although the music selection is small it’s still decent. There is also the fact that you can play with a buddy on the couch or put it in freestyle mode and let the 4 year old go to town is nice too. So if nothing else download the trial and give it a try. Who knows, maybe it will draw you in.